Jesuit of St. Martin De Porres shares Easter Message

Much has been said about safety in the departure from urban centers to vacation hotspots in the country and across the border. But the celebration of Easter is rooted in Christian tradition. After the forty days of fasting, prayer and penance, prescribed during lent, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. But while all that information is available in the New Testament, the message, according to Father Matthew Ruhl of Saint Martin De Porres, is hope.

Father Matthew Ruhl S.J., St. Martin De Porres

“In one word, the Easter message is “Hope”. That’s what it means; that no matter how hard or difficult or how many obstacles you face, it couldn’t be worse that being laid in a tomb dead and having stone rolled over the mouth of the cave and then Jesus comes out. That’s god’s way of saying look, the story ain’t over ‘til I say it si over. And so the message is don’t ever give up; never give up. And that is what Easter is about. Never give up. Never ever think that anything is so bad or so bleak that you have to give up.”

Jose Sanchez

Matthew Ruhl

“How do we absorb that message when most of us are so in tuned to a cross country race or going off to somewhere to enjoy ourselves?”

Father Matthew Ruhl S.J.

“Well I’ll tell you, there is a tradition in the Roman Catholic Church that every time you wake up and you see the sun rising, you remember the resurrection and you remember how eternal life was born out of death. And the best daily symbol of the resurrection is the rising sun. And the rising sun is something we see every morning. So I would encourage every Christian to just incorporate it in your morning prayer—to cast a glance out at the rising of the sun and remember that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and if God can do that, God can do anything.”